This photo showing two widowed penguins comforting each other while staring into the distance has bagged a prize at Oceanographic magazine’s Ocean Photography Awards 2020.
Matt, a Twitter user, on April 19 shared a screenshot of pictures clicked by a photographer named Tobias Baumgaertner which feature two fairy penguins standing side by side upon a rock, overlooking the Melbourne skyline.
He captioned the image as “Couldn’t stop thinking about these penguins enjoying the Melbourne skyline together. So I found the original photographer and apparently they’re both widowed. I can’t handle it.”
couldn’t stop thinking about these penguins enjoying the Melbourne skyline together so i found the original photographer and apparently they’re BOTH WIDOWED i can’t handle it pic.twitter.com/gGgPVcOn9G
— matt (@dogfather) April 19, 2020
STORY BEHIND THESE TWO PENGUINS:
Sharing the story behind it, photographer Tobias Baumgaertne explained the two penguins had apparently lost their respective partners, and had been watching the ‘dancing lights’ of the Melbourne skyline together. The white penguin was an “elderly lady” who lost her partner and the one to the left was a “younger male”, who lost its partner too.
These two Fairy penguins poised upon a rock overlooking the Melbourne skyline were standing there for hours, flipper in flipper, watching the sparkling lights of the skyline and ocean.
Tobias explained how he spent 3 full nights with the penguin colony until he was able to get the perfect shot.
“Between not being able or allowed to use any lights and the tiny penguins continuously moving, rubbing their flippers on each other’s backs and cleaning one another, it was really hard to get a shot but i got lucky during one beautiful moment. I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did.”
